New artwork for Docklands

06 Dec 2016

Docklands has a new piece of public art, thanks to the Victoria Point owners’ corporation and Wonderment Walks Victoria.

Called Celestial Ground, the Colleen Boyle sculpture can be found on either side of the tower’s entrance at 100 Harbour Esplanade.

The etched stainless steel artwork sits on a plinth of polished concrete. Its folding geometric plates are loosely based on the geometric diagram of a form of carbon (C60, also known as Fullerine) which has been found in outer space.

One third of the panels are etched with images of the constellations that can be viewed from the southern hemisphere. Other panels have been polished to form mirrors – referencing the way telescopes allow us to look into outer space, but also how we look to the stars for self reflection.

Ms Boyle said: “Celestial Ground will provide locals and visitors alike with an opportunity to contemplate their place in the universe, an idea that has the capacity to unite people in a world that is currently threatened with division.”

Wonderment Walk is an ongoing project founded by philanthropist Eddie Kutner to use art as a science communications medium to engage with and inspire viewers – whether they are actively visiting works, or are just passing by.

Mr Kutner unveiled the sculpture at the building on November 10.

Wonderment Walk partnered with RMIT University Centre for Art, Society and Transformation (CAST) to specify the project and to select Ms Boyle’s concept.

Ms Boyle said scientists and artists were both engaged in a search for truth.

“Scientists and artists come at the same thing – just from different angles,” she said. “Scientists find facts. Artists probably ask more questions.”

The Victoria Point installation is Wonderment Walk’s third project.

In 2015 it launched Frog by John Olsen in the Queen Victoria Gardens and it has also contributed Gillie and Marc’s Run for your Life piece at LaTrobe University in Bundoora.

Another temporary sculpture has been planned for early 2017 as a pilot for the next permanent installation.